Politico reporter Ryan Lizza announced he would no longer cover stories about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., due to the alleged “personal relationship” his former fiancée, Olivia Nuzzi, had with the 2024 presidential candidate.
In Politico Playbook on Friday, Lizza shared, “Because of my connection to this story through my ex-fiancée, my editors and I have agreed that I won’t be involved in any coverage of Kennedy in Playbook or elsewhere at POLITICO.”
Lizza and Nuzzi got engaged in 2022 but broke up some time earlier this year, according to the New York Post.
The Politico announcement comes on the heels of Nuzzi, a star reporter for New York magazine, being placed on leave by her employer because of the alleged relationship with Kennedy.
The magazine put out a statement on Thursday night saying that Nuzzi revealed to them that she had “a personal relationship” with a “former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign.” The Status media blog reported the person was Kennedy.
“Nuzzi acknowledged to the magazine’s editors that she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures,” New York Magazine said in a statement.
Nuzzi, the magazine’s Washington Correspondent, has done several high-profile interviews while covering the presidential election. Among them was Kennedy, whom she wrote a feature on late last year.
NY Mag said it found no evidence of bias in Nuzzi’s past reporting on Kennedy, but the magazine would not have continued to let her cover the 2024 race had they known of the relationship. Kennedy suspended his independent 2024 campaign last month and endorsed former President Trump.
NEW YORK MAG PUTS REPORTER OLIVIA NUZZI ON LEAVE FOR ALLEGED ‘PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP’ WITH RFK JR.
“She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review,” the statement continued. “We regret this violation of our readers’ trust.”
Nuzzi released a statement Thursday night, saying she never had a physical relationship with her former reporting subject but did engage in “personal” communications. She did not name Kennedy.
“Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,” she said. “I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source. The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.”
A spokesperson for Kennedy also denied there had ever been a physical relationship between the two.
“Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,” a Kennedy spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this article.
